Financial Transparency Coalition

After a decade of high growth in sub-Saharan Africa, it is time to ask: who benefits? Certainly growth has been accompanied by some poverty reduction and some progress in health and education. But advances are inadequate compared to the wealth created. Worse still, income inequality is rising in too many countries. A new report by Tax Justice Network-Africa and Christian Aid investigates income inequality in eight sub-Saharan African countries and asks whether their tax systems are working to narrow the gap between rich and poor.

They say all is fair in love and war. But what about tax? Our panel at the 2013 Financial Transparency Coalition, Ending the Race to the Bottom: Finance in a Cooperative World, will discuss many of the pressing tax issues facing countries, both in Africa and throughout the developing world. I will moderate the panel.

The 10-point Lough Erne communique contained 13 uses of the word ‘should’ and not a single use of the word ‘will’. Perhaps David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister, was hoping that no-one would notice the difference and that the British public anger about tax dodging would be satisfied without any actual action. A new poll commissioned by Christian Aid shows that that gamble has failed and that the British public remain as angry, if not more so, than before the G8. When a previous poll was undertaken in February, 80% of the public were angry about tax...

LONDON - Christian Aid gives two cheers today for European moves to tackle corruption by forcing some large companies to come clean about their payments to governments around the world. However, the charity says the UK Government’s failure to push for stronger EU rules means the upcoming G8 will be an acid test of the commitment to tax transparency. ‘Europe has made some extremely important progress towards tackling corruption linked to the world’s mining, gas, oil and logging companies,’ said Joseph Stead, Christian Aid’s Senior Economic Justice Adviser.